Tennessee Republican leaders threaten to withhold funds as Memphis preps to put guns on the ballot

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee's top Republican leaders on Monday threatened to withhold tens of millions of dollars in state funding from left-leaning Memphis should leaders continue with plans to place three local gun control initiatives on the November ballot.

Earlier this year, Memphis' city council approved asking voters in November if they wanted to tweak the city charter to require permits to carry a handgun, ban the possession of AR-15 style rifles and implement a so-called “red flag” ordinance, which allows law enforcement officials to remove firearms from those found to be an imminent danger to themselves or others.

The city council had been discussing the ballot measures for more than a year, acknowledging at times that they were potentially risking the ire of the Republican-dominant Legislature since the measures likely conflict with Tennessee's lax gun laws.

Regardless, city council members representing the state's most populous and Black-majority region said they were willing to “roll the dice.”

“This is an opportunity for citizens in Memphis to speak,” Councilman Chase Carlisle said during a committee meeting in 2023 when the measures were first being considered. “Whether it’s enforceable by the constitution or not, I think, is moot. I think it’s an opportunity for the General Assembly, whether they choose to listen or not, to understand where we are as a municipality. And to give voice to the people.”

“We’ll roll the dice. If the General Assembly wants to punish us and punish our citizens for asking for their help, we will deal with that accordingly but that would be absolutely heartbreaking," Carlisle added.

In 2021, the Republican lawmakers and GOP Gov. Bill Lee signed off on permitless carry for handguns and then in May of this year banned local cities and counties from implementing their own red flag laws. Meanwhile, many inside that same Republican supermajority have rebuffed calls to place limits on firearms, an effort that has only increased after a gunman shot and killed three adults and three 9-year-olds in a Nashville private school last year.

With Election Day less than three months away, House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Senate Speaker Randy McNally issued a statement Monday warning Memphis about the consequences of advancing ballot measures that go against the wishes of the Statehouse.

“The Tennessee Constitution clearly outlines the roles and responsibilities of the state and local governments," McNally, a Republican from Oak Ridge, said in the statement. “Shelby County needs to understand that despite their hopes and wishes to the contrary, they are constrained by these explicit constitutional guardrails.”

After the statement was released, Secretary of State Tre Hargett warned that his office would not approve Memphis' ballot if it included the gun initiatives.

“Common sense says local governments can’t override state law to give a 12-year-old a driver’s license, and they can’t override other state laws either. Memphis has no authority to circumvent state law. Our office will not approve a ballot with items already preempted by state law.”

Last year, Memphis received nearly $78 million from the state's sales tax revenue. The city currently operates an $858 million budget.

“Guns pose a different risk for residents of Memphis than they do for some other municipalities, but we understand that we need to work with our state to determine a set of tools to restore peace in our community,” said Mayor Paul Young in a statement responding to the Legislature's ultimatum. “What happens next is up to the voters and the legislative branches.”

Members inside Tennessee's white-majority Legislature have long criticized Memphis, particularly management of its crime rates and expressed distrust over the response from Black city leaders. In 2023, the city saw a record-breaking 398 homicides and burglaries jumped to more than 14,000.

However, according to preliminary figures from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released by the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission, the rate of reported crime in Memphis for the first half of 2024 remained below the first half of 2023 in almost all major categories, including the violent crimes of murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. The violent crime rate declined 5.1% in the first half of the year compared with 2023, with all four categories showing reductions. The commission did not go into specifics on why the rates went down.

Trust only further broke down this year when Republican lawmakers and the governor signed off on legislation designed to undo police traffic stop reforms set in place after the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by officers last year. The Legislature remained steadfast that it would overturn an ordinance adopted by the Memphis city council, which included outlawing so-called pretextual traffic stops for minor violations like a broken taillight, despite emotional pleas to abandon the measure from Nichols' family.